The new workation fashion: Balenciaga inspires on the beach!

The new workation fashion: Balenciaga inspires on the beach!

Balenciaga today unveiled the exciting campaign for the 'High Summer 25' collection, shot under the artistic direction of Roe Ethridge. The focus is on a male model on the beach, portrayed with ski goggles, a surfboard and an oversized shirt with the provocative inscription “CEO”. The campaign slogan, “out-of-office”, reflects current discourses about the fusion of work and leisure, which are manifested in the terms “workation” and “bleisure”. These trends affect many travelers who want to combine both business and private needs in their stays.

The aspect of bleisure travel is becoming particularly important as companies increasingly offer the opportunity to combine business trips with private extended days. This opportunity is often perceived positively by employees and usually requires a personal contribution to the costs and the use of vacation days. Satisfied employees who experience appreciation through such offers are generally more motivated and willing to go on business trips. Integrating personal reasons into business travel has proven to be crucial to job satisfaction and can even be a deciding factor when recruiting.

Creative overlaps in fashion and travel

The connection between fashion and aviation has a long history; Cristóbal Balenciaga designed for Air France in the 1960s. Giorgio Armani also created uniforms for Alitalia in the 1990s. Pierre Cardin, who not only worked for airlines but also designed materials for NASA in the 1970s, also had a particular interest in space fashion. Jacquemus, who presented the "Le Splash" collection in Hawaii three years ago, which featured bags that were a hybrid of briefcase and air mattress, recently designed new pajamas for Air France's first class. The humor of the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” regarding Jacquemus’ position among the designers shows how much the fashion world also reflects the dynamics of travel.

Another exciting aspect is the current developments at Prada, which is designing spacesuits for NASA's Artemis III lunar mission, which is scheduled to take place in 2027. These projects underline that fashion is increasingly perceived as a symbol of new beginnings and mobility, regardless of the type of journey. Celebrity stylist Law Roach recently dressed Zendaya in a semi-sheer space suit for a commercial, reinforcing the creative integration of fashion-related themes into the context of travel and space travel.

Innovations and trends in fashion and travel culture influence each other, enriching not only the lifestyle of travelers, but also the ways of companies operating in an international context. Balenciaga and other fashion industry leaders show how closely these themes are interconnected and how they are increasingly being reinterpreted through creative approaches.

Bleisure trips also offer companies the opportunity to benefit from cheaper return flights if the return flight is not planned on the last day of the event. This flexibility not only promotes employee satisfaction, but also strategic planning of travel budgets.